Zyn nicotine cases and pouches are seen on a table in Recent York City on Jan. 29, 2024.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Tobacco product use amongst middle and highschool students has dropped to a 25-year low, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.
The CDC and FDA recorded data on youth tobacco product use through the National Youth Tobacco Survey, which found that 2.25 million middle and highschool students reported that they had used any tobacco product up to now 30 days, down from 2.8 million in 2023.
The drop reflected a decline in students who said they were using electronic cigarettes, all the way down to 1.63 million in 2024 from 2.13 million in 2023.
“We’re headed in the fitting direction relating to reducing tobacco product use amongst our nation’s youth,” Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a press release Thursday. “But we will not take our foot off the gas. Continued vigilance is required to proceed to scale back all types of tobacco product use amongst youth. Addressing disparities stays a vital part of those efforts to make sure that we do not leave anyone behind.”
Female students reported the largest decline in use across the board, and Hispanic students also reported a drop in use of any tobacco product. Evidence-based strategies, including price increases, media campaigns and smoke-free policies, are likely a part of what caused tobacco product use to drop, in line with the agencies.
E-cigarettes proceed to be essentially the most used amongst students who reported tobacco product use, at 5.9%, but nicotine pouches are actually the second-most commonly used tobacco product, at 1.8%, followed by cigarettes at 1.4%.
Nicotine pouch use actually grew amongst students, though not enough to be considered significant, from 1.2% in 2023 to 1.8% in 2024, the CDC said in September.
“Youth use of tobacco products in any form — including e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches — is unsafe,” Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a press release in September. “It’s essential that we remain vigilant and committed to public health efforts to make sure all youth can live healthy, tobacco-free lives.”
Zyn was the most-popular nicotine pouch brand, at 68.7%, compared with the subsequent most-popular brand On at 14.2%.
Zyn, the oral nicotine pouch brand owned by Philip Morris International, exploded in popularity on social media earlier this 12 months, which led to a nationwide shortage. Philip Morris in July announced plans to invest $600 million right into a latest Zyn production facility in Colorado in response to the spike in demand.
The survey was distributed amongst 29,861 students from 283 schools between Jan. 22 and May 22.
